Cebuana volleybelle Deanna Izabelle Wong. | Inquirer photo
Cebu City, Philippines—For Cebuana volleybelle Deanna Izabelle Wong, choosing to play with the Ateneo de Manila Lady Eagles after high school is one of the best decisions she has made.
Since her arrival at the Lady Eagles’ camp four years ago, Wong has been nothing short of spectacular. She won the Best Setter award in Season 80 of the UAAP Women’s Volleyball in 2018 before finally helping the team bag the championship in the recently concluded Season 81 last month.
Wong shared with Cebu Daily News Digital during her interview on CDN Sportstalk that all of her sacrifices paid off when they won the crown against the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Lady Tigresses in three games last month.
“I just started jumping and crying,” said Wong as she recalled the moment they won the championship point.
Wong recalled how she had to endure staying away from her family in Cebu and keep up with the intense training of the Ateneo volleyball team to be able to get to the Promised Land.
And now that she’s helped the team get there, she thanked all who supported her throughout the years, especially her dad, Dean, who, along with her mom, Judin, encouraged her to choose Ateneo after high school at the University of San Jose-Recoletos.
Deanna said during the CDN Sportstalk show that she chose Ateneo over other schools because “it just felt right.” She also said her parents helped her realize that it was the “best decision” to make.
“Hindi naman sa they were the ones who wanted it, but because they told me what Ateneo was about, parang narealize ko din na it was the best decision [to make],” Deanna said.
(It’s not that they were the ones who wanted it, but because they told me what Ateneo was about so it made me realize also that it was the best decision [to make].)
Her father, when asked why they wanted Deanna to go to Ateneo, said it was because the Lady Eagles camp was the first to recruit her daughter. It also had something to do with their daughter’s safety, especially since she would be away from them.
“It didn’t feel safe for us parents [if she went to another school], especially that she was away from us,” Dean said.
“Ateneo was really a very good environment [for Deanna],” Deanna’s mom, Judin, said.
But Judin said the final say still had to come from Deanna.
“We told her the last say will still be [from] you, because it is you who is going to study and play,” Judin said. “When she had a lot of offers from other teams, we told her ‘it’s up to you.’ But for us, we really wanted Ateneo. [Good thing] she’s very obedient,” she added with a laugh. /bmjo